My May Assessment

I'm not a teacher, but (today) I'm playing one on the blog.

May was an interesting month, in many ways. Shall we assess some grades?


The weather : C-
We had erratic weather, pretty much the entire month. There were some days with temps in the 80's (Hello? Summer already?), and there were many days with temps back in the 40's (What? Is winter back?). There were a lot of 4-letter weather-related words in play: rain, wind, and cold, sometimes all at once (thankfully, snow wasn't one of them). But, on the days when the weather was pleasant, it felt absolutely heavenly! As much as I'd like to give the weather a failing grade, I have to weigh the good with the bad, and it really did (sort of) balance out in the end.

What's wrong with this picture? Fleece jacket, headband, and full tights in May!

Mileage : A+
Currently, I have 109.5 miles in the books for May (and there still are two days remaining). I'm not a high-mileage gal, but I realize marathon training does require a bit more mileage than just ordinary running for fitness' sake. I always get a little nervous when my mileage approaches the century mark, though, because it (almost always) results in injury.

The 16-miler was oh so tough....

Some highlights: An effortless half marathon (with a 2:03 finish time!), several early morning #5at5's, and a full day of relay-running (netting me a total of 15 miles).

Some low moments: An especially tough 16-miler on a cold & windy day and a recent 10-miler with non-stop achy hips and hammies.

Cross-training : B
I'm a huge advocate for cross-training. I think all "good" runners need to do more than just run to be "great" runners. Daily running is (usually) a one-way ticket  to over-training, and more often than not, leads to injury from over-used muscles. Cross-training gives the "running" muscles a break in the action, and allows for general all-over strength. As a result, your entire body can share in the work of running, usually resulting in fewer injuries (if any).

My cross-training involved lots of planking (approx. 125 minutes!), walking on my non-running days, biking, and strength-training (at least once a week).

Speed work : B+
I will be the first to admit I am NOT a fan of speed work. Ugh, it's hard! Unfortunately, it's also one of those necessary evils. Most training plans will have speed work, usually on a weekly basis. I decided to compromise and implement speed work on a bi-weekly basis. Ideal? Not for most people, but for me it was a perfect solution. I didn't have that weekly "dread-in-my-head," and actually looked forward to doing the various speed workouts because I knew I didn't have to do them so frequently.

The 5K was one of my fastest 5K's ever, and got me a 4th place finish out of the 72 gals in my age group

So, what all did I do? I ran a 5K evening race, did a hilly workout, and also did a crazy stair workout. All of these left me feeling totally depleted of everything, but also (strangely) satisfied with my efforts.

Monthly Challenges : A-
Every month, I come up with some new daily/weekly challenges to do. Usually, they involve non-running elements, and are geared to give myself different fitness components to focus on. Also, I end up doing some of these "monthly" challenges long after the month ends. These monthly challenges give me a chance to try something new (or tough) for a short period of time, knowing that I don't have to continue with them long-term.  

May Goals went well!

I confess, there were a couple times when I flat out forgot to do the challenges (in which case, I did most of them on the following days). Some of the ab work got a bit boring, so I ended a few of those sessions earlier than I should have. Oh well.

So, those are my assessments for May 2017, thus far. Over all, I'm quite happy with how everything played out. Stay tuned, there still will be more planking, strength-training, and possibly another speed session/or #5at5 before months end.

Do you ever grade your monthly progress? How would you fare for May? Pass or fail?

**I'm linking up with Marcia and Patty and Erika for Tuesdays on the Run... Join the party!

 **And, I'm linking up with Suzie and Rachel and Debbie and Lora for the Running Coaches' Corner

**And with Nicole and Annmarie and Jen for the Wild Wednesday Workout